New Releases by Lauren Davis

Go undercover and crack the case in Agent Cupcake, perfect for fans of Mac B. Kid Spy and Spy School! Twelve-year-old Miguel Mangayayam has always loved one thing: mystical beasts. So he''s thrilled when he''s hired by the Mystical Beasts Bureau (MBB) to be their first ever human spy where he''ll use his encyclopedic knowledge of hippogriffs, mermaids, dragons, and more to solve the latest cases. Even better? He''s partnered with the supercool unicorn superspy, Agent Cupcake! Together, they''ll go undercover, gather intel, crack codes, and collect clues to solve the MBB''s toughest mysteries. But when they receive reports that unicorns are losing their magical powers, Miguel and Agent Cupcake will have to put their spy skills to the test to figure out why, even if it means going up against a mega corporation like HOARD. Could someone be trying to steal magic to put unicorns out of business? Join the MBB and solve the case in the candy-colored mystical world of Agent Cupcake, all while learning facts about real life spies and spycraft in the next graphic novel from the dream team that brought you Debian Perl: Digital Detective: Mel Hilario, Lauren Davis, and Katie Longua!

The Nothing, Lauren Davis''s debut fiction collection, exists on the whisper between reality and illusion. Think Shirley Jackson''s characters stuck in the damp Pacific Northwest or an Olympic Peninsula funhouse mirror held up to Karen Russell''s Florida. The worlds Davis creates acknowledge the terror and seek the gifts of solitude, grief, and the unrelenting thirst for certainty within us all. Lauren Davis has written such unnerving stories and characters that one wants to watch them unfold even after their final turn, evoking Bergman or Lynch. -Luke Goebel, author of Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours The stories in The Nothing harbor ghosts, mountain views, movie theatres, and haunting pastorals to create a world that is both modern and eternal as fable. Davis''s landscapes feel as fully inhabited as the magnificent, occasionally grotesque dreamscapes the narrators lead us into, the surreal grounded in the startlingly real. Rich with vivid details and the subtle intimacies of life, this book traverses slowly and bravely into the dark, flickering with flame and sifting through the ashes of grief to tell "graciously human" stories. -Erin Slaughter, author of A Manual for How to Love Us There are ghosts in these stories. Sometimes literal, other times only in metaphor or feeling, but ever present in every story in Lauren Davis''s The Nothing is something just off page, under the surface, aching and yearning and pulling and haunting every sharp, minimal, perfect sentence, not unlike the way these stories themselves will get their hooks in you and keep haunting long after you''ve put it down. -Aaron Burch, author of A Kind of In-Between

I can''t think of another book I''ve read that so moved me to reconsider all I feel-all I believe-heart and mind-about love and loss and the timeless linkages that join us through action and consequence to one another. Davis has written a beautiful evocation-opened a channel if you will-to another habitat just beyond our current vision. When I Drowned is a must read. -Gary Lemons, author of Snake Part ghost story and part love story, these lyric poems wade deliciously near a Victorian aesthetic. The dead understand love can haunt "good as any ghost." Water becomes a sinister thing "without a proper mind." Unique and powerful, this book, the images and stories within, will linger like a chill. -Michael Schmeltzer, author of Empire of Surrender When I Drowned plumbs our most intimate relationships to measure domestic drownings daily endured-mother and daughter, anima and animus, lovers, the living and the dead. In language intensified by hydrostatic pressure, she conjures the people and spaces where "strangers share our sleep" in sapphire light. It is a "republic of secrets" she elevates, brought to the surface by a feminine spirit as "sleek as an open thigh," "goddess fleshed," and clear-seeing underwater. -Kathryn Hunt, author of Seed Wheel When I Drowned is engaging, masterful storytelling. When we talk about voice concerning some poets, we are assessing their aesthetic style, but that is far from the truth when I read Lauren Davis poems. In her beautiful and haunting narratives, consider "voice" as the character speech of Davis''s personas. The protagonist are archetypes, and they speak for themselves. Their language is unique as they are, and I am wonderfully transported to those places, and times, where they live. -Gary Copeland Lilley, author of The Bushman''s Medicine Show Davis is one of those rare poets who can create a new world in a poem and then flip that world on its head with a single line. Using the sparest of language, these poems are explorations of loss and yearning, and surveys of the various ways the soul can thirst even in landscapes defined by water, even with "mouths full of water." When I Drowned is a triptych of beautiful anguish. -Denton Loving, author of Crimes Against Birds

A twisty YA thriller about a girl who revels in leading ghost tours, but discovers that even she can be spooked when a chilling murder hits closer to home. An Indie Next pick! Roxie Clark has seen more dead bodies than your average seventeen-year-old. As a member of the supposedly-cursed Clark family, most of her ancestors have met tragic ends, including her own mother. Instead of fearing the curse, however, Roxie has combined her flair for performance and her gruesome family history into a successful ghost tour. But her tour never covers the most recent body she''s seen-her sister Skylar''s boyfriend, Colin Riley, found murdered in a cornfield. A year after the murder, Roxie''s desperate to help Skylar find closure and start to heal. Instead, Skylar becomes fixated on finding the killer. As the sisters dig into what really happened, they discover that more than one person has been lying about that night. And the closer they get to the truth, the more Roxie starts to wonder if some scary stories might be better left untold. Brooke Lauren Davis offers another thought-provoking and eerily satisfying tale, perfect for fans of Kara Thomas and Cruel Summer.

Sadie meets The Glass Castle in a smart, gripping, and twisty YA debut about a girl seeking to reveal the truth about her mother-and herself. Seventeen-year-old Phoenix has spent much of her life drifting from town to town with her mom Nina, using their charms to swindle and steal to get by. Now they''ve made it to their ultimate destination, Mom''s hometown of Jasper Hollow. The plan: bring down Ellis Bowman, the man who ruined Nina''s life. When Phoenix gets caught spying on Ellis, she spins a convincing story that inadvertently gives her full access to the Bowman family. As she digs deeper into their secrets (and begins to fall for daughter Melody), she finds herself entrenched in the tale of a death and a disappearance that doesn''t entirely line up with what Mom has told her. But there''s even more to this story Phoenix doesn''t know. Who, if anyone, is telling the whole truth about what happened? Debut author Brooke Lauren Davis explores the murkiness of right and wrong, of choices and consequences, of heroes and villains, in an eerily compelling and thought-provoking small-town saga.

Are you regularly wearied by the demands of parenting? Do you wish you could be gentle and kind with your children but struggle to actually do it? Do you want to feel more joy and confidence as you mother? Do you wonder what Jesus has to do with your everyday life as a mother? Lauren Davis is a mother of three children under the age of 10. She relates to the frustrations and uncertainty that mothers face as they raise their young children. In her debut book, Lauren Davis brings good news to fainthearted mothers of young children: God sees the struggles we face in parenting, He invites us to lean hard on Him, and He actively enters into our circumstances with us. In a conversational "between friends" style, the author reveals the 29 hardest challenges she faced in raising young children over a three-year period as well as the specific, practical ways God assisted her and participated with her in her everyday life. After each short chapter, Davis prompts the reader to explore selected verses from the Bible and consider how God''s Word and prayer can speak into the reader''s own personal, everyday struggles in mothering. Come and see how God will restore your strength and joy as you walk hand in hand with Him! "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26

Burgers and dogs are just fine for backyard get-togethers, but if you want to heat things up and become the grilling and smoking legend of the neighborhood, pick up Camp Chef Grill & Smoker. Things really get cooking when you perfect the art of smoking any type of meat with this Camp Chef Grill & Smoker Cookbook. This Camp Chef Grill & Smoker Cookbook includes: Fine Indian Smoked T-Bone Strawberry And Jalapeno Smoked Ribs Smoked Lamb Shoulder Chops Delicious Spicy Drumsticks Smoked Healthy Cabbage Peppercorn Tuna Steaks Garlic And Citrus Scallops Aromatic Smoked Duck Breast Fancy Bologna Apple Pie Grill Grab this copy and start your journey towards a healthy lifestyle. Let''s get cooking!!!

Debian Perl: Digital Detective is a five-book series in which middle-grade readers will join Debian and Digits on mystery adventures all while building practical knowledge of coding, algorithms, algebra, and logical problem-solving. "Debian Perl will not only teach readers about STEAM-based education, but also about the importance of friendship, loyalty, identity, and, of course, solving the scientific puzzles of the future." –Dr. Katie Monnin, Pop Culture Classroom Megalopolis used to be the city hub for all the makers, doers, and dreamers. It was a better time according to Debian Perl, a technomancer known for her out-of-date computer programming skills. Now the city streets are filled with “Egg-heads,” those in thrall to the ease and simplicity of new technology as opposed to Debian’s way of doing things. Digits is one of those Egg-heads. She is a young social media guru and knows her way around all the newest, latest technology. Debian and Digits cross paths when they both stumble across a 100-year-old lost robot named Ray-Bot. They soon learn that Ray-Bot’s CPU was suspiciously overclocked, leaving him unable to perform basic functions and commands. To find out where the robot came from, Debian must teach Digits everything she knows about computer coding and programming. Along their journey to bring Ray-Bot home, they begin piecing together the mysterious puzzle about his malfunction and uncover some sinister secrets. Debian Perl: Digital Detective is a five-book series in which middle-grade readers will join Debian and Digits on mystery adventures all while building practical knowledge of coding, algorithms, algebra, and logical problem-solving.

Schools nationwide are transitioning to the Common Core--our advice to you: Don''t go it alone! Our new book, Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans: Ready-to-Use Resources, K-5, shows you that teaching the Common Core State Standards in the elementary grades doesn''t have to be intimidating! This easy-to-use guide provides model lesson plans for teaching the standards in reading, writing, speaking/listening, and language. Get engaging lesson plans that are grade-appropriate, easy to implement and include ready-to-use reproducible handouts, assessments, resources, and ideas to help you modify the lesson for both struggling and advanced learners. Our Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans are designed to fit seamlessly into your K-5 curriculum. You get practical tips for revamping your existing lessons to meet the standards. Students learn how to read informational texts, write opinion-based essays, and improve their speaking and listening skills. Grammar mini-lessons and foundational skills mini-lessons will help you teach language conventions, phonics, fluency, and more! We take the guesswork out of Common Core lesson plans with this practical, easy-to-use guide. All lesson plans are grade-appropriate, and every lesson plan includes... Common Core State Standards covered in the lesson Overview of objectives and focus of the lesson Background knowledge required and time required A detailed, step-by-step agenda for the lesson, plus a materials list Differentiation ideas to adapt the lesson for different kinds of learners Assessment ideas, including rubrics and scoring guides A place for your notes: what worked; what can improve Bonus! We show you how to extend the lessons into longer units to suit your particular grade''s curriculum, and even help you create more of your own lessons!

Rat Medicine is a collection of stories by an important new and emerging talent. The voices of the characters in this collection have an unmistakable individuality which reveal themselves in a very sparse prose style. The title story explores the innermost feelings of an Ojibway woman trapped in an abusive relationship who begins seeing rodents intruding into her home. Another story probes the voice of a club fighter on a fast downward slide. Another explores the quality of a woman who recognizes an old friend in the face of a homeless man. All the stories attempt to strip away the disguises that define people and to unmask the truth about our existence in its diverse forms.

Erving Goffman''s dramaturgical perspective sees the world as a stage and social actors as the players (1959). Social actors partake in a series of dramatic performances to accomplish a certain stable social self. This idea has been built upon in recent years through the structural symbolic interactionist perspective, particularly with the work of Peter Burke''s Identity Control Theory (2004). I hope here to continue to build upon the work of these theorists, as well as engage in a dialogue within the field of computer-mediated-communication (CMC). This work is at the nexus of social psychology and CMC studies. Contemporary technology has had great implications for many aspects of the social world and for interaction in particular. Since contemporary technologies impact interaction, and self construction is embedded in the interaction process, then it is important to look to at the theoretical implications of contemporary society''s technological advances. I look ethnographically at MySpace, using participant observation and interview, to study how interaction and self presentation take place within the structure of the personal interactive homepage. My sample (N=97) is non-random and is drawn from my "Friends" list. I argue that the personal interactive homepage provides a unique forum for interaction. I analyze the structure of the personal interactive homepage, and examine the ways in which users construct an ideal and still authentic self within this structure. Through a synthesis of these analyses, I am able to build upon presentation of self theories, arguing that the dimension of power can (and should) be included in understanding the presentation of self process. The extent, to which an actor can present an ideal self in light of varying degrees of negotiation, represents the actors'' "power to present."

No university affiliations. No half-truths. No out-of-touch authors who haven''t been in school for decades. A class project turned company, College Prowler produces guidebooks that are written by actual college students and cover the things students really want to know. Unlike other guides that jam everything into a five-pound book and devote only two pages to each college, our single-school guidebooks give students only the schools they want and all the information they need. From academics and diversity to nightlife and sports, we let the students tell it how it is. In addition to editorial reviews and grades for 20 different topics, more than 80 percent of each guide is composed of actual student reviews of their school. Whether readers are looking for "Best and Worst" lists, "Did You Knows?" or traditions, College Prowler guides have it all. Our books are the only place for local slang, urban legends, and tips on the best places to find a date, study, or grab a bite to eat.

Provides historical and cultural information as well as a guide to the sights of Chicago and its suburbs.